California lawmakers made changes to a pair of bills that would overhaul health insurance practices under the federal Affordable Care Act.

The changes mean that if the federal mandate to buy insurance
goes away - some consumer protections in state law would expire a
year later.

Those protections include a guarantee that people with
pre-existing conditions can buy coverage. They also dictate how
insurance companies can set premiums.

Democratic Assemblymember Richard Pan says the rules would give
state lawmakers time to adopt alternatives.

DR. PAN: "We wanted to be sure that we didn't just take the
protections away immediately and that the legislature would have
the chance to try to solve the problem if for some reason the
federal government did change the law. But that's a big
'if.'"

Dr. Pan says the changes came out of negotiations
with Governor Jerry Brown's administration.

Last year, the Governor vetoed a similar bill because he said
the consumer protections need to be linked to the federal
requirement to buy insurance.

Consumer protections alone, he wrote in his veto message, "would
lead to skyrocketing premiums, making coverage more unaffordable."

Other changes to the bill this week include increasing the
number of geographic rating regions that insurance companies can
use to price premiums.

The bills are expected to be voted on in the Health
Committees of both state houses on Tuesday.